Joana Choumali wins Prix Pictet 2019

The winner of the 8th Prix Pictet has been announced: Joana Choumali (born 1974 on the Ivory Coast) was honoured for her extraordinary series ‘Ca va aller’ (It will be OK). The artist, who was selected from a shortlist of 12 finalists, is the first African photographer to win the prestigious award. The prize-giving ceremony took place at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London on November 13, 2019.

This year’s edition of the award, which is endowed with 100,000 Swiss Francs (approx. 90,000 euros), revolved around the topic of ‘Hope’. Choumali’s remarkable series comprises photographs taken in March 2016, just weeks after the terrorist attack at Grand Bassam Beach. The artist subsequently embroidered her images with ornate patterns, describing the painstaking process as “an act of channelling hope and resilience”.

On March 13, 2016, several gunmen opened fire in the harbour town of Grand-Bassam, Ivory Coast, killing at least 18 people. The radical Islamist militant organisation Al-Queda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attack.


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Prix Pictet
Joana Choumali